Author: Gulf News Week

SEATTLE (news agencies) — Though natural disasters cycle across seasons and regions in the U.S., it’s often a shocking discovery for property owners how expansive and expensive flood and water damage can be when a major storm devastates their homes, businesses and communities.That’s because oftentimes insurance doesn’t cover what the policyholder thinks it does — or thinks it should.The disappointing surprise is that while the standard home insurance policy does cover fire and wind damage, even good property insurance typically doesn’t cover things like flooding and earthquakes, which usually require a special and separate policy for each. Here are the…

WASHINGTON (news agencies) — When President Donald Trump last rolled out tariffs this high, financial markets quaked, consumer confidence crashed and his popularity plunged. Only three months later, he’s betting this time is different. In his new round of tariffs being announced this week, Trump is essentially tethering the entire world economy to his instinctual belief that import taxes will deliver factory jobs and stronger growth in the U.S., rather than the inflation and slowdown predicted by many economists.On Tuesday, he told his Cabinet that past presidents who hadn’t aggressively deployed tariffs were “stupid.” Ever the salesman, Trump added that…

“Are we racists?” That’s the blunt question posed by Bobo, a white girl living on a farm in Africa, to her horrified (and defensive) mother.There are so many ways this three-word line reading could land wrongly — or just seem forced or mannered. But it feels thoroughly organic when voiced by Lexi Venter, an extraordinary first-time actor who gives, at age 7, one of the more compelling child performances in recent memory in “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight.”It’s a performance that was seeded, watered and nurtured by Embeth Davidtz, an extraordinary actor herself who wrote, directed and stars…

NEW YORK (news agencies) — Major League Baseball plans to use its robot umpire technology for ball-strike challenges in Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Atlanta, another step toward possible regular-season use next season.MLB said Wednesday it intends to make the All-Star announcement Thursday.Teams won 52.2% of their ball/strike challenges during the spring training test, with 617 of 1,182 challenges successful in the 288 exhibition games using the Automated Ball-Strike System. ABS was installed at 13 spring training ballparks hosting 19 teams, and an animation of the pitch was shown on video boards displaying the challenge result for spectators to see.Baseball Commissioner…

The U.S. is having its worst year for measles spread since 1991, with a total of 1,288 cases nationally and another six months to go. But in Gaines County, Texas, which was once the nation’s epicenter for measles activity, health officials said they are no longer seeing ongoing measles transmission. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention count, updated Wednesday, is 14 more cases than in all of 2019, when the U.S. almost lost its status of having eliminated measles. There’ve been three deaths in the U.S. this year, and all were unvaccinated: two elementary school-aged children in West…

Hamas says ongoing talks remain ‘tough’ as Trump sees a ‘good chance’ of reaching ceasefire deal within days.Hamas says it has agreed to release 10 Israeli captives as part of continuing efforts to reach a ceasefire in the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip, but warned that ongoing talks for a truce were “tough” due to Israel’s “intransigence”. The Palestinian group said on Wednesday that the ceasefire talks, spearheaded by key mediators Qatar and the United States and held in the Qatari capital Doha, have several sticking points, including the flow of desperately needed aid, withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza,…

JERUSALEM (news agencies) — As Israel and Hamas move closer to a ceasefire agreement, Israel says it wants to maintain troops in a southern corridor of the Gaza Strip — a condition that could derail the talks.An Israeli official said an outstanding issue in the negotiations was Israel’s desire to keep forces in the territory during a 60-day truce, including in the east-west axis that Israel calls the Morag corridor. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk with the media about the negotiations.Keeping a foothold in the Morag corridor is a key element in…

SAN FRANCISCO (news agencies) — Silicon Valley chipmaker Nvidia on Wednesday became the first publicly traded company to surpass a $4 trillion market valuation, putting the latest exclamation point on the investor frenzy surrounding an artificial intelligence boom powered by its industry-leading processors.Although Nvidia’s market value dipped back below $4 trillion by the time the stock market closed, reaching the milestone highlighted the upheaval being unleashed by an AI craze that’s widely viewed as the biggest tectonic shift in technology since Apple co—founder Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone 18 years ago. Underscoring the changing of the guard, AI bellwether…

INDIANnews agenciesOLIS (news agencies) — Veronica Burton had 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists, Kayla Thornton added 18 points and eight boards, and the Golden State Valkyries beat the Indiana Fever 80-61 on Wednesday to spoil Caitlin Clark’s return.The Valkyries held Clark to just 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting as the Fever scored their second-fewest points of the season.Clark returned after missing the past five games with a left groin injury. The All-Star captain participated in practice Monday — the first time she’d done that since getting hurt on June 26.Golden State led 41-32 at halftime and Kate Martin…

LOS ANGELES (news agencies) — Superman might do more than just save Metropolis — filmmaker James Gunn hopes the beloved superhero will bring hope to a cynical world. “Everybody’s gotten so cynical and ironic,” said Gunn. “Everybody’s ironic about everything all the time. And he (Superman) is a good-natured guy who wants to be kind. And when you see the world through Superman’s eyes, everyone is beautiful.”“Superman,” which flies into theaters nationwide Thursday, is a bit of a change in tone for the writer and director who brought a mischievous playfulness and snark to the chaotic worlds of “Suicide Squad”…